Woodland was originally settled in 1860, at about the time of the American Civil War, and organized as a plantation on April 25, 1861, becoming a town on March 5, 1880. Land had been cleared from the area as early as the 1850s, and the northern part of the township settled by Swedish immigrants in 1872. Unable to get enough land in New Sweden, they were granted a hundred acres in Woodland, soon becoming the largest group in the township.
The village of Colby is located in the northern part of the township, served by Colby and Morse roads, while Woodland is nearer to the center of the township, accessed primarily by Maine Route 228, and Carson is in the southern portion of the township, east of Perham on Carson Road.